1st Session, 36th Parliament,
46-47-48 Elizabeth II, 1997-98-99

The House of Commons of Canada

BILL C-71

An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 16, 1999

      Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Budget Implementation Act, 1999.

PART 1

CANADA HEALTH AND SOCIAL TRANSFER

R.S., c. F-8; 1995, c. 17, s. 45(1)

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act

1995, c. 17, s. 46

2. Subsections 2(2) and (3) of the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act are replaced by the following:

Definition of ``province''

(2) In Parts I, II and IV, ``province'' does not include the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut.

Determi-
nation of population

(3) For the purposes of this Act, the population of a province, or, before April 1, 1999, of the part of the Northwest Territories that became Nunavut or the part that remained as the Northwest Territories, for a fiscal year is the population of the province or the part for that fiscal year as determined by the Chief Statistician of Canada in the prescribed manner.

1995, c. 17, s. 48

3. (1) The portion of subsection 13(1) of the Act before paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:

Transfers established under paragraphs 14(a) and (b)

13. (1) Subject to this Part, a Canada Health and Social Transfer established under paragraphs 14(a) and (b) is to be provided to the provinces for the purposes of

    (a) financing social programs in a manner that provides provincial flexibility;

1995, c. 17, s. 48

(2) Subsection 13(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Transfers established under paragraphs 14(c) and (d)

(2) Subject to this Part, a Canada Health and Social Transfer established under paragraphs 14(c) and (d) is to be provided to the provinces for the following purposes:

    (a) the purpose referred to in paragraph (1)(b); and

    (b) contributing to providing the best possible health care system for Canadians and to making information about the health system available to Canadians.

(3) Section 13 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):

Definition of ``social programs''

(4) In this section, ``social programs'' includes programs in respect of health, post-secondary education, social assistance and social services.

1995, c. 17, s. 48; 1996, c. 18, s. 49; 1998, c. 19, s. 285.1(1)

4. Sections 14 and 15 of the Act are replaced by the following:

Canada Health and Social Transfer

14. The Canada Health and Social Transfer shall consist of

    (a) the sum of the total equalized tax transfers, as determined in accordance with subsection 16(1);

    (b) a cash contribution of $12.5 billion for each fiscal year in the period beginning on April 1, 1999 and ending on March 31, 2004;

    (c) a cash contribution of $3.5 billion for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 1998, to be paid to the trust referred to in section 16.1; and

    (d) a cash contribution, to be provided for the purposes referred to in subsection 13(2), of

      (i) $1.0 billion for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2000,

      (ii) $2.0 billion for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2001, and

      (iii) $2.5 billion for each fiscal year in the period beginning on April 1, 2002 and ending on March 31, 2004.

Provincial share of cash contribution established under paragraph 14(b)

15. (1) The cash contribution established under paragraph 14(b) that may be provided to a province for each of the fiscal years in the period beginning on April 1, 1999 and ending on March 31, 2004 is the amount determined by the formula

F x [(G x H/J) + (1 - G) x K/L] - M

where

F is the total of the amounts established under paragraphs 14(a) and (b) for the fiscal year;

G is

      (a) 0.3 for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 1999,

      (b) 0.25 for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2000, and

      (c) 0.0 for each of the fiscal years in the period beginning on April 1, 2001 and ending on March 31, 2004;

H is the product obtained by multiplying

      (a) the total entitlements referred to in subparagraph 15(4)(b)(i), as it read on March 31, 1999, in respect of the province

    by

      (b) the quotient obtained by dividing

        (i) the population of the province for the fiscal year

      by

        (ii) the population of the province for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 1995;

J is the total of all the values of H for the fiscal year in respect of all provinces;

K is the population of the province for the fiscal year;

L is the total of the population of all provinces for the fiscal year; and

M is the total equalized tax transfer applicable to the province for the fiscal year, as determined in accordance with subsection 16(1).

Northwest Territories and Nunavut

(2) The total entitlements of H in the formula in subsection (1) are

    (a) in respect of the Northwest Territories, the total entitlement referred to in subparagraph 15(4)(b)(i), as it read on March 31, 1999, in respect of the Northwest Territories multiplied by 0.56843; and

    (b) in respect of Nunavut, the total entitlement referred to in subparagraph 15(4)(b)(i), as it read on March 31, 1999, in respect of the Northwest Territories multiplied by 0.43157.

Provincial share of cash contribution established under paragraph 14(c)

(3) The cash contribution established under paragraph 14(c) that may be provided to a province shall be determined in accordance with the terms of the trust indenture establishing the trust referred to in section 16.1.

Provincial share of cash contribution established under paragraph 14(d)

(4) The cash contribution established under paragraph 14(d) that may be provided to a province for each of the fiscal years in the period beginning on April 1, 2000 and ending on March 31, 2004 is the amount determined by multiplying the amount set out for that fiscal year in that paragraph by the quotient obtained by dividing

    (a) the population of the province for the fiscal year

by

    (b) the total of the population of all provinces for the fiscal year.

5. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 16:

Payments to trust

16.1 The Minister may make direct payments, in an aggregate amount not exceeding $3.5 billion, to a trust established to provide funding for the purposes referred to in subsection 13(2).

1995, c. 17, s. 50

6. Subsection 17(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Reduction or withholding

(2) The cash contribution that may be provided to a province under subsection 15(1) or (4) shall be reduced or withheld for the purposes of giving effect to

    (a) any order made by the Governor in Council in respect of the province under section 15 or 16 of the Canada Health Act or, in the case of a cash contribution under subsection 15(1), section 21 or 22 of this Act; or

    (b) any deduction from the cash contribution under section 20 of the Canada Health Act.

1995, c. 17, s. 50

7. The portion of subsection 19(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Criteria for eligibility

19. (1) In order that a province may qualify for a full cash contribution under subsection 15(1) for a fiscal year, the laws of the province must not

1995, c. 17, s. 50

8. Paragraphs 21(1)(a) and (b) of the Act are replaced by the following:

    (a) direct that any cash contribution under subsection 15(1) to that province for a fiscal year be reduced, in respect of each non-compliance, by an amount that the Governor in Council considers to be appropriate, having regard to the gravity of the non-compliance; or

    (b) if the Governor in Council considers it appropriate, direct that the whole of any cash contribution under subsection 15(1) to that province for a fiscal year be withheld.

1995, c. 17, s. 50

9. Sections 22 and 23 of the French version of the Act are replaced by the following:

Nouvelle application des réductions ou retenues

22. En cas de manquement continu aux conditions visées à l'article 19, les réductions ou retenues sur la quote-part d'une province déjà appliquées pour un exercice en vertu de l'article 21 lui sont appliquées de nouveau pour chaque exercice ultérieur où le ministre estime, après consultation de son homologue chargé de l'assistance sociale dans la province, que le manquement se continue.

Application aux exercices ultérieurs

23. Toute réduction ou retenue visée aux articles 21 ou 22 peut être appliquée pour l'exercice où le manquement à son origine a eu lieu ou pour l'exercice suivant.

1995, c. 17, s. 53

10. Section 25 of the Act and the heading before it are repealed.

R.S., c. C-6

Canada Health Act

1995, c. 17, s. 34(2)

11. The definition ``cash contribution'' in section 2 of the Canada Health Act is replaced by the following:

``cash contribution''
« contri-
bution pécuniaire »

``cash contribution'' means the cash contribution in respect of the Canada Health and Social Transfer that may be provided to a province under subsections 15(1) and (4) of the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act;